Naturalized Daffodils

Spring for me starts when the daffodils are blooming.  I've been enjoying mine now for about a week.  In the last few days I have shared four bouquets from my garden, the first bouquets of the season.  My goal this year is to have something new blooming every couple of weeks and being able to share with friends.  Daffodils start the bouquet season.  

This is a typical time for my daffodils to be blooming.  They have been as early as late April in 2010, but that year was unusually warm. 

I planted the daffodils shown in the pictures about twelve years ago.  They have naturalized (meaning that they have grown and multiplied each year.)  When most of our perennial and vegetable gardens are bare it is a treat to have the lush, happy looking blossoms available.  Who can't smile when confronted with a daffodil? 
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These bulbs are planted in the fall and once they are in a spot they like will provide many years of enjoyment.  And the deer and rabbits ignore this plant. 

My bulbs had multiplied to the extent that the blooms were getting fewer each year because they were too crowded.  Last year I dug out about 50 bulbs after their foliage died back, dried the bulbs in the shed and gave them away.  As you can see, they are once more plentiful.  
I've listed below several reasons you may not have been able to perennialize or naturalize these bulbs in your garden:

• The bulb may not be hardy in our zone which causes the bulb size after the first year to be reduced below the minimum required for flowering. 
• Poor drainage can cause the bulb to rot; many like dry conditions in their dormant period. 
• Bulbs need proper fertilization to maintain bulb size and their foliage needs to remain in place to allow for adequate photosynthesis to store energy for next year.  Do not braid or remove the leaves after they are done blooming, leave them until they turn brown.  The best time to fertilize with a low nitrogen fertilizer is after the first hard frost in fall; the next best is early spring when leaves emerge.   

Right now you can get discounts if you order spring bulbs that will be delivered in time for planting this fall.